


What is your Despair?

by ephona



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-03-21 23:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephona/pseuds/ephona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A HxH/Dangan Ronpa Crossover<br/>the events that are written follow the third set of murders and the trial that follows</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape from the Tower

_You all assume it’s me but you’re all wrong …_

_or maybe you’re all right_

_But that doesn’t matter._

_What matters is my question_

_Children, friends, country men …_

_What is your despair?_

* * *

 

Sixteen trapped in a single tower with no routes of escape anywhere in sight.  The only way to escape, according to a strange bear, is to kill someone and get away cleanly with their murder.  To many, this all seemed like a ridiculous farce.  It was the beginning of eternal madness.

First it was a rolling head.  Long, silvery-white hair fell to the ground along with the rest of the man’s face.  Then it was an endless dance of the puppet who had cut off the man’s head.  All for the promise of escape from the towering facility.  Most thought, after that violent display, the madness would stop.  It didn’t. 

Next was a torn stomach.  The blood and carnage was so foul that even the King, who saw his Queen dead before him, winced and had to excuse himself from the scene.  Then it was the rending noise of shining, scaled wings being torn from the body of a lamenting servant.  All for regaining just a bit of the lost memories they all possessed.  Even after that, some thought the madness would end.

It didn’t.  In fact, the madness had only begun.  Despite the last ordeal, all had some memories restored which only caused chaos.  As the one disguised as a strange creature revealed his true self, a young boy cowered, a dark cloud of the past hovering over his head.  He put his dark hand on the little boy’s head and commanded him with firm words.

"Kil, will you do me a favor and get rid of him for me?"

It took everyone who was still surviving to hold the boy back from a hypnotic, murderous rage.  The one of the Kurta clan was injured in the struggle, causing the boy to snap free of his trance.  But the foreboding stress of the air still lingered as the man walked away.

Now the motive given by the mastermind’s bear puppet was something desirable for everyone: if you kill someone and get away with it, you and three other people can escape.  It had changed from a battle between individuals to a battle between those you considered your friends and those you didn’t.  Wary eyes found more fault in everyone still alive.  Some even questioned if the strange black-haired man who had almost caused the death of the Kurta was the one who had locked them all away to kill each other in this grotesque game.

"Hm? Me? The Mastermind? Of course not.  You may all assume it’s me but you’re wrong.  Or maybe you’re all right?  No one really truly knows who’s telling the truth and who is lying.  That doesn’t matter though.  What matters is my question.

“Kil, what is your despair?  If you can answer me that, I’ll show you the way out.  But you have to be honest.  For I already know what your despair is.”

* * *

 

“Mito-san! Mito-san!”  His running footsteps echoed in his own ears.  It was refreshing to see the blue sky surrounding him and to smell the salt from the surrounding sea drifting through the air.  Upon the hilltop, he ran towards the woman clad in coral smiling at him and waving. 

“Mito-san! I’m home, Mito-san! I’m home!”

He ran into her open arms, feeling her happy tears fall onto his dark hair.  She was always so warm . . . so comforting.  He looked back up to see her face.  Instead of her face, he saw red. 

She was warm because of the blood that was now running down her body.  Her eyes had rolled back into her head and red seeped from her nose and lips.  She slumped to the ground, lying in her own blood. 

“M-Mito-san! Mito-san!”

“I’m sorry, Gon . . .” From behind the body of Mito, a white-haried boy stared at him, blue eyes dull and dead.  “I had to kill her . . . for us . . .”

* * *

 

“Killua, no!”

Gon jolted up in his bed, his right hand clasped over his scalp.  The world in front of him was gone and he was back in his plain room on the first floor of Heavens Arena.  He couldn’t get the image of Mito covered in blood out of his mind.  With the limited memories he had, he wasn’t sure if it was a dream of his mind or perhaps a repressed memory.   He wasn’t even sure he remembered what Mito was to him.  Was she his mother? His sister?  Maybe his aunt or nanny?  He felt his heart pounding in his chest over and over again.  It beat louder with each second starting from a small thu-thump before morphing into a large thud.  Thud, thud, thud, thud  . . .

“GON! Gon wake up!” He’d been too wrapped up thinking about his nightmare he hadn’t noticed that someone was banging on his door.  Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he walked over and peered through the peephole.  He couldn’t see much; the man was now ramming his entire body at the door.  But he knew his smell and voice anywhere.  He opened the door just as the man aimed another body slam at it.  He tumbled onto the floor of Gon’s room, swearing as his shoulder scraped across the carpet.

“Oh. Good morning, Leorio.”

“Hey! At least give me a warning like ‘I’m awake’ or something before you pull that sort of crap!  What if I’d broken a bone or something.”

“Oh. Sorry. I-it’s still early, I really wasn’t thinking very well.”

Leorio stood up, adjusting the tinted glasses back into place on his sharp nose.  “Anyway, you’re up.  Thank heavens.”

“Am I late for something?”

“No!” Leorio grabbed Gon’s bare shoulders, almost shaking him into a frenzy.  “Gon, it’s awful!  S-Someone else is—“

“Someone else died?” Killua poked his head around the corner to Gon’s room, worry immediately painting his face.

“K-Killua!  What are you doing here?”

“Um I sleep next door to Gon and it’s hard to stay sleeping with you yelling like a monkey.”

Leorio scowled a bit but couldn’t stop the bottled up tears from flowing over his cheeks. “Damnit, Killua.  Damnit . . .”

Gon felt his heartbeat again; a sickening drop.  He hadn’t seen Leorio like this before.  He looked distraught and worried over this, something he didn’t seem to feel when Kite and Komugi had been murdered.  He actually seemed more disgusted by the way the person in question was killed and kept a level head when examining the body.  Seeing him burst into steady tears without even standing over the body meant this wasn’t just someone they barely knew dying. 

“Leorio . . . who’s dead?”

He didn’t speak any more words.  He let go of Gon’s shoulders and solemnly beckoned the two boys to follow him.  The air around all of them turned damp and muddy as Leorio led them from the dorms and up to the next floor, mainly comprised of the main arena and a shabby library.  Killua exchanged a nervous glance with Gon.  Both of them were on edge after yesterday.  Gon couldn’t quite forget the dull darkness in Killua’s eyes when he’d lunged towards him, hands morphed into deadly claws.  Killua leaned over to whisper to him his fears; the exact fears Gon had.

“I . . . I hope Kurapika isn’t dead.”

“Y-Yeah . . .”

“I . . .” The same fear that had come into Killua’s eyes the night before came back for a brief moment before he turned away in shame.  

When they saw the body on the library floor, they weren’t sure if they should be thankful it wasn’t Kurapika or distraught. 

The body was in a pool of his own blood.  Blood had seeped all over the carpet like a disease.  The body itself was face up in the puddle.  It was blatantly obvious where all the blood had come from: a slice through the jugular from ear to ear.  Playing cards mingled in the sea of blood, some of them stained right across the edges perfectly.  Soon, Gon could only hear himself screaming.  His heart was beating rapidly again, just like the pounding of a funeral drum. 

“Zushi!”

_~bing bong bing bong~_

_-A body has been discovered.  You now have two hours to investigate before the trial-_

* * *

 

"The victim is Zushi.  Estimated time of death, around one this morning." The man’s crystal clear voice carried over the small crowd.  "First ones to find the body are Leorio, Killua and Gon.  There is a large wound in which the victim’s throat was cut clean open."

"Is that all that damn file has to tell us?" Hanzo scratched his bald head furiously.  He had been staring at the lifeless body of the small boy for a while now, trying to examine all he could without actually placing his hands on the bloodied corpse.  "This bear is quite the stickler."

"He’s obviously testing our intelligence." Chrollo closed the Monokuma file with a large sigh.  "I’m not sure if it’s a bear, I think I’d call it a rat."

"Z-Zushi … Zushi is …" Gon tightened his grip around Palm’s skirts feeling another wave of tears come over him.  Out of the eight people in the room, Gon was taking the vision of Zushi’s mutilated body the hardest.  Ever since the body announcement, he had been nothing but a pile of tears.  Killua just watched straight-faced as Leorio bent down to gently close Zushi’s eyes, his hand becoming brushed with blood.  

Leorio then spoke to the crowd. “Well? Should we get to investigating then?”

"Not yet, I have to pee." Hanzo gave an almost goofy salute as he rushed out of the library like nothing had happened.  A scoff came from a pair of loose lips lurking in the corner.

"Such a simpleton.  A murder has happened and he excuses himself to go to the bathroom."

"Shut up, stupid clown." Chrollo turned back to glance at Bisky who was still wiping the tears off her face with a lace handkerchief.  She had the same reaction as Gon when she walked in the room and saw the crime scene.  Her cheeks were bright red from crying so hard and her gloved hands still shook. "You feeling all right now, my lady?"

"Y-yeah … I believe so." She sniffled.  "Young life … why must it be taken away so violently?"

_-bing bong bing bong-_

The chime sent an unnerving shiver of fear through every spine in the library.  Plaster-white faced looked amongst each other as the screens flickered on showing the face of the self-proclaimed Master of Ceremonies.

"About time! I was wondering when you would find all the bodies!" Tauntingly, the black-and-white bear known as Monokuma waved his paw at the screen.  "Now I can really give you guys a two hour warning! Yep, we got a double murder on our hands!  Isn’t that just great?"

"A-A double murder?"

"Well let me make this official then … ahem." With a flicker, the screen tapped off the and the speakers came back on.

_-A body has been discovered!  You now have two hours to investigate before the trial-_

Exchanged glances said it all.  Another murder.  Everyone was shocked and terrified.  The world seemed to freeze for a minute before someone got to their feet; Leorio.  He rushed down the hall, breath coming out in shallow puffs.  Killua followed after suit crying out Leorio’s name as he rushed towards the Men’s bathroom.  The door swung open long before either of them reached it, Hanzo’s equally pale face staring at them.

"Y-You guys … you guys aren’t gonna believe this."

Leoiro reached the door, screaming out Kurapika’s name.  But, yet again, he wasn’t the one who had succumbed to death.  On the green tile of the bathroom floor was more of the sticky red substance.  Meruem stood over the fallen corpse with the same stoic expression.  The body itself was face down on the floor, tendrils of black spindly hair covering ever crevice of its face and neck.  A large protruding wound came from out its back right where the heart was located.  Hanzo ushered Leorio inside just as Killua caught up to the door.  He gently turned the face of the victim forward so both could see the empty, dead expression on his face.  Hair stood up on the back of Killua’s head and his fists clenched.  He could feel his own color drain from his face and down to his toes.  It wasn’t the blood or the slight gore splattered on the wall, it was the victims face.

"A-Aniki? I-Ilumi-aniki?!"


	2. Blood and Clues

Now that both of the bodies had been discovered, the crew finally had the actual Monokuma file to deal with.  Monokuma handed it off rather joyously, ecstatic that there were now two dead bodies instead of one.  Gon was still a blubbering mess by the time everyone met in the boy’s bathroom to go over what evidence they all had. 

“Zushi’s file hasn’t changed much.”  Chrollo held it open for everyone close to see.  “Estimated time of death about one this morning, a large wound cutting the victim’s throat open and the three people to tell us about his body are Leorio, Gon and Killua.  But Illumi’s file I think might help us crack this case easier.”  He switched out the text.  “Illumi’s time of death is about the same time as Zushi just there’s an hour difference.  The fatal wound is a blunt object through his heart.  He landed flat on his face in the boy’s bathroom.”

“I can’t believe Illumi is dead.”  Killua’s blue eyes, despite whatever true relationship he had with his brother, were empty as he stared directly into the dead eyes of Illumi.  “It . . . just . . . how?  I don’t remember much about him but I think I remember he wasn’t that easy to kill.”  He rubbed his index finger on a spot between his eyebrows, trying to extract as many memories from his brain as he could. 

“The point now is we have to solve who killed them.”  Kurapika had made his way from his spot in the infirmary towards the crowd of people as soon as the second body announcement had sounded.  Pain still lingered in his face and he constantly had to grip the wound on his side to keep it from aching.  Leorio had given him a broad shoulder to lean on as they reviewed the files.  Leorio gave a glance over to Meruem who was still as stoic as he had been when the body was found.

“Meruem, when did you find Illumi?”

“Just a few minutes before Hanzo.  I heard the body announcement and was on my way here when I smelled blood.  I thought it was the one everyone found so I was just waiting until you all showed up.”  His tail drooped a bit. “Seems I was half right.”

“How can we trust it wasn’t you though, huh?”

“Did you not just listen to what Chrollo said?” Kurapika jabbed Leorio in his side with a dissatisfied grunt.  “Zushi and Illumi died within an hour of each other and Zushi died around one am.  Whomever murdered either of them was able to go back and catch some sleep before coming back out here.”

“Exactly.” Meruem’s unfolded his arms.  “Though I know you’ll have to prove me wrong in the trial, I will declare my innocence right now.”

“Until all the evidence is complied, I don’t think any of you are innocent.” Palm said.

“All right, enough mourning.” Bisky clapped her dampened gloved hands together twice.  “We’ve got to solve these murders or they won’t be the only ones dead.”

“Should we do what we always do? Split up and look for clues?”

“It worked the past two times so yeah.”

“I’m going back to see if I can find anything on Zushi.” Gon piped up. “I . . . I will find out who killed him.  I can’t forgive death at all but Zushi . . .”

“I’ll come with you.  I think we should investigate things in order.” Killua glanced back at Illumi for one second before rushing to Gon’s side again. 

Everyone went their separate ways with one goal in mind; find the murderer or be murdered themselves.  Also the motive given to them from the strange little bear hung heavily in the atmosphere around them.  It wasn’t spoken by many but strained friendships now turned to heavy distrust and closer relationships were feeling the tension.  In everyone’s mind were two thoughts they didn’t want to share: was the murderer my friend and if they somehow get away with it would they even choose me to live?

* * *

 

Leorio was the only one in the group trained enough to perform a vital procedure needed in the collection of evidence: autopsies.  To most of the crew, Illumi’s corpse was just a festering body of flesh, blood and guts.  Even though he, himself, didn’t like the amount of gore, Leorio knew his final moments were written in the wounds and patterns of blood on the floor.   They remaining, living participants, as it were, had split nicely to investigate each body.  So as he knelt down to investigate Illumi, four others stood in and searched the boys bathroom looking for clues.

“Not a pretty sight.” Kurapika knelt down next to the distraught doctor.  “Is it a wound through the heart like the file said?”

“Yep.” He had to psyche himself up for this one.  Taking a rubber glove from his briefcase, Leorio snapped it on and use his other hand to turn Illumi’s face towards him. 

“Well, he fell face first, that’s a given.  And just looking at how the blood has settled, it doesn’t look like anyone moved the body.  No tracks, trails or anything like that.  He’s still in the state he was when he was killed.  Though . . . that’s a bit strange.”  He reached over to the corpse’s back, his protected hand gently touching the tendrils of flesh protruding out from it.  “This looks like an exit wound.”

Kurapika nodded. “So he wasn’t stabbed in the back.  He saw his murderer right in front of him.”

Leorio’s brow furrowed in thought as he poked in and around the wound.  “It’s really weird.  I mean, wouldn’t the force of whatever managed to go clean through him knock him backwards onto his back?”

“Huh . . . yeah.  You’re right.”  Kurapika glanced again at the untouched puddle of blood around Illumi, slightly perplexed.  “Are you sure no one moved the body?”

“Are you doubting my skills again Kurapika? I’m the trained doctor here, you punk!”

“I’m just making sure you think of all the options before jumping to conclusions like you always seem to do.”

“Just look.  If someone had disturbed the body, we’d be able to tell instantly.  He fell face first but, for some reason, his exit wound from whatever is on his back.”

“All right all right, I believe you.” Kurapika let out a sigh.  “Anything else important?”

“Gimme a sec, let me see how big this wound is . . .”

“Meanwhile, look what I found!” Hanzo’s voice alerted Kurapika and Meruem (who was still standing in the corner with his arms folded).  The bald man pointed a slender finger to the middle sink.  It wasn’t too noticeable when they came in the room but, looking closer, remnants of blood caked the outer rim of the sink and the twist handles.  “Looks like someone was trying to wash the blood off something.”

“I assume their hands?”

“Maybe. Or the murder weapon.” Kurapika winced as his wound from Killua ached as he walked towards the sink. 

“I wonder if they were in a hurry,” Palm mused.  “I mean if I were washing the blood of something to clear me of suspicion I’d make sure to clean up something as blatantly obvious as that.  It’s an eyesore.”

“The woman has a point.  And I would never make such a ruthless mistake as that.”

“Meruem, everyone here is innocent until proven, all right?  We haven’t settled on the fact that it was you.  There just isn’t enough evidence.”

“Don’t think too hastily about that.”  Just like Meruem, Hisoka had done nothing but stand in the corner, shuffling his deck over and over occasionally pulling out a card or two and spinning them around on his sharp nails before making them disappear into thin air.  “As we’ve learned, everything in this twisted game is about deception.  Maybe the killer did that on purpose to raise suspicion? I mean, if we concluded that the killer was maybe below-average when it comes to thought, we’d suspect someone like Hanzo.”

“Hey! You wanna say that again you clown bastard?”

“He’s got a point though.  But I’m not willing to let such an obvious clue go to waste either.” Kurapika turned back to Leorio.  “I’m gonna go check on Gon and Killua.  I’ll meet you there when you’re done looking at him.”

“Fine fine, go on without me.  Sorry I’m taking so damn long, Kurapika!”

“Love you too, Rerorio.”

“Goddamnit its LE-O-RI-O.”

With a roll of his dark eyes, Kurapika trudged slowly out of the boys bathroom, making sure not to overexert himself to the point where his wound opened up again.   _I wonder how Killua feels about all this_ was the second most prevalent thought on his mind.  He’d seen yesterday how distraught and almost heartbroken Killua looked when he came out of his trance and realized his own hands were covered in the blood of someone he remembered being a friend of his.  The light he carried in his childish eyes turned to a darkness similar to the darkness he saw in his own scarlet eyes.  He’d looked ready to scream in terror.  So, how was he feeling now that the very person who had mentally influenced him to almost kill everyone he cared for was now dead?  It wasn’t the time to be worrying about the people still alive but Kurapika couldn’t get it off his mind. Every time his side began to flare up in pain, he worried. 

Halfway from the boy’s bathroom to the library, he saw Bisky crouching down in the middle of the hall, her blond tendrils scraping the floor as her eyes scanned the carpet. 

“Bisky? Why are you here?”

“Everyone seemed to pass it over but I think I found a clue!” She picked up something from the ground and held it up.  From a distance, it looked as if she was holding up nothing.  But in her gloved fingers was a thin piece of material shimmering silvery white, about as long as her own arm.  “There’s quite a few of these on the ground here.”

“What is it?”

“Hair!” He lips formed into a pout. “Obviously.  And look what else.” She gestured to a few blotches of copper red on the floor.  “Looks and smells a lot like blood.  I’m surprised Gon, Killua and even that hunk Chrollo passed this over!”

Kurapika craned his neck down to look at the maybe dozen stray white hairs and spots on the ground.  “That’s . . . a bit out of place.”

“And I know they weren’t here yesterday.  I went to the library before I went to bed last night and left about like ten maybe and this wasn’t here.  It must have happened last night, probably during the murder.  The location is too convenient to be a coincidence. “

Both of them glanced back at the small scene then at each other a few times, both of their faces twisted with confusion.  It seemed so out of place but it had to be significant, right?  Bisky’s head turned to the right and with an “Ah!” she reached out towards something.  “Is this . . . a note?”

“What?” Kurapika peered over her shoulder as she unfolded the clean, white piece of paper.  On it were letters printed in black ink that formed some sort of message.  There was no suspicious spots of blood, paint, dirt or even maybe soot just these words with no addresser or sender:

- _Meet me outside the bathroom tonight at 12:30_ -

“Finally! Something useful!” Bisky cheered, hoisting the note up into the air.  “Ugh, but it’s not handwritten.  That’s kinda difficult.”

“It’s still a pretty big clue.  Whomever had this note on them was wanted just outside the scene of Illumi’s murder.  That’s how this connects . . . sort of.” Kurapika shook his head, still pretty confused.  “Whatever.  I was going to check on how the investigation around Zushi was going.”

“You go right ahead, Pika! I’m gonna search around here and the nearby rooms a bit more.  Don’t leave any stone unturned, that’s my motto!” Bisky stood up, hands on her hips and a grin on her gentle face.  “We’ll get to the bottom of this.  We have to.  I won’t let anyone down!”


End file.
